what a woman wants.

You'll never guess what Mr. Gardner got me for Mother's Day.

I'll give you a hint...it's shiny and expensive, and I've wanted one for a very long time.

A diamond?

Not that expensive.

Give up?

Here it is.

Ohhhh so shiny...

What's that? It's not Mother's Day yet? Oh, right. I guess this would be a good time to explain how Mr. Gardner and I give gifts to one another.

When the day of gifting (i.e. Birthday, Christmas, Mother's/Father's day) is drawing near the gifter asks the giftee what they want. Frequently this occurs when the giftee is stopped dead in his or her tracks by an object they desire on a shopping outing. The item is then usually bought on the spot and all possible guesswork and returns are avoided. I know, I know, we are so romantic...

In this case, we were at Costco, and I, the giftee, was stopped by the display of beautiful Kitchenaid mixers (I always pause by them and touch the boxes and look at Mr. Gardner and wistfully say, "I should get one of these sometime" to which he agrees and then we continue on our way to buy our diapers and 4 gallons of milk). But on this day I was also stopped by the fact that our Costco coupon book had a coupon for $40 off a Kitchenaid mixer (this was up from $30 off at Christmas). Plus it came with 4 little prep bowls and a kitchen timer (which my husband and friends insist I need to stop burning things). Oh, and did I mention they also had a special mail-in offer for a FREE slicer/shredding attachment if said mixer was purchased before the end of May?

It was tempting, to say the least.

Now you must understand that I am notoriously cheap. It is hard for me to spend money, unless I am buying useless clearance items. I'm working on this. My husband helps me. He loves to spend money and he's good at it. He doesn't buy cheap crap just because it's cheap. When he buys things he buys them because he likes them and he buys high-quality.

That's how he got me : )

Anywhoooo....

This time, instead of walking away with me he said, "I think you should get it."

And so I did.

I vacillated on the color, I liked the silver, but also liked the classic white. Mr. Gardner helped with that as well. He said I could get anything I wanted as long as it was the silver one.

I love that man.

I couldn't help but think of the movie Father of the Bride when the bride almost calls off the wedding because her poor husband-to-be buys her a blender, not knowing that he has unwittingly condemned her to a life of repressive domesticity, and stripped her of all feminist dignity.

Not me, baby. Bring on the kitchen appliances!

sprung.

Spring is here...it appeared this week out of nowhere, just like these tulips in our yard.

I love how Spring does that...and how you can feel it before you can see it.

A few evenings ago, right after supper, we all spontaneously wandered outside and savored the warm weather...

My Spring baby loved digging his little toes in the grass.

As did I.

Eli went straight for the dirt.

And Mr. Gardner and Josiah climbed the tree so they could look down on the rest of us.

Eli eventually got bored with the dirt and took off down the sidewalk, so Mr. Gardner had to catch him...and provide me with this gem of a photo.

I love Spring.

I'm glad it's sprung.

good for you & tasty too.

I found this recipe for superpower breakfast cookies last fall, but have just recently started making them on a regular basis. They are quite nutritious and very filling and, best of all, they taste wonderful...the whole family loves them!

I pretty much follow the recipe exactly (I know, unusual for me) although I usually double it because they disappear so quickly...

Oh, and I do divide my batch into two bowls before adding the chocolate chips, and substitute dried cranberries in one for my boy who *gasp* doesn't like chocolate...I don't know what happened there...

the stairs.

Noah is now at the age when he must feel the undeniable need to navigate the stairs. Historically, the ascent is rarely ever the problem, it's coming DOWN that seems to give the little guys trouble. In a house with stairs, this is obviously a necessary skill, but the process always seems to foster some bumps, bruises and tumbles.

Mama isn't a fan.

Here is the way to come down the stairs, as demonstrated by Noah:

1. Realize that you have climbed the stairs.

2. Panic. Cry for your mama.

3. Realize that your mama is not going to help, and is, instead going to take pictures.

4. Try to go down head first, and realize this is scary.

5. Listen to mama's suggestion to go down backwards.

6. Give it a try.

7. Works well!

8. Forget what you just did and panic a little.

9. Put your leg back up on the stairs...what?

10. Give up and hang on for dear life.

11. Cry for your mama.

12. Mama to the rescue.

13. Thanks mama.
Awww...

Oh, well. There's always next time...

(Note the symmetric bruises on his forehead from the last stair-climbing attempt)

supper's late.

This is Eli.

He just woke up from his nap.

Apparently, he suffers from a little-known, but widespread disorder I just discovered on the Pioneer Woman's Blog called LBSCBDO, also known as Low-Blood-Sugar-Cranky-Butt-Disorder. She goes into more detail about the symptoms here, if you would like to diagnose your own family members.

He came downstairs tonight as I was trying to make dinner and I could tell he was about to have an acute episode of LBSCBDO. He kept saying this word over and over (with increasing urgency) that sounded like a cross between the words Beagle and Pickle...."BEEEGKOOUUL!"

See? Here he is saying it "BEEEGKOOUUL!"

He was quite insistent and I couldn't figure out what he wanted...until Josiah nailed it.

"He wants a bagel, mom."

"Oh, right. Thanks son. Not now Eli, mama's making dinner."

He rapidly deteriorated to end-stage LBSCBDO...

While his caring, empathetic mama took pictures.

Then, I kid you not...

He walked over to the silverware drawer, pulled out a butter knife and said...

"Knife. Kill."

He's serious about his food.

(We really don't promote violence in our home...I don't know where they pick this stuff up.)

boys.

What does this look like to you?

Just the ugly backside of our house (that really needs to be resided) and the shed with some junk piled up next to it, right?

Wrong.

It's a ladder. Um-hmm. A ladder to the roof. Do you see that perfect stair-step?

Ok, now do you see that child on my roof?

Now before you judge me for being a negligent parent, I must defend myself. I was outside when this happened. Yes, I was blogging on the back porch so I could "keep an eye" on my boys. Which might actually make me even more negligent than if I were inside, now that I think about it.

As would the fact that I ran inside after telling him not to move, and grabbed my camera to get a picture.

Hey, it's a momentous occasion!

I did it when I was two...ask my mama. I was AD-vanced.

So I guess I have no one to blame but myself.

photo shoot.

A month or two ago, some good friends of mine asked me to take some family pictures for them.

I had never done this before and, although I was a little worried about how the pictures would turn out, I agreed. After all, there was a baby involved.

I love babies.

And they have a sweet baby boy who is almost 6 months old and who is still at the "strange people are cool" phase. He was more than happy to flirt with me, even when his mama left him alone with me while she finished getting ready.

Little doll.

Look at those sweet baby fingers...

He didn't even get mad when I put him in a basket...although he does look like he's a little concerned about my mental health.

And then we got him stripped down to a diaper and let the good times roll (no pun intended...)

Almost makes me want another...darn those maternal hormones.

Almost...ahem.

Here are some sweet family shots.

They turned out pretty well, I think. And my friends liked them a lot, or at least told me they did...

I should have never doubted my camera.

easter

Sorry. Late entry here.

But I have a good excuse: Blogger and my iPhoto have not been getting along and I finally realized today that it was because it needed an update...I'm happy to report they are getting along just fine now.

So, Easter.

I had to work...and there were not many Easter babies this year, so work was a little slow (read bo-ring). So while I was slaving away (catching up on the latest Pop Culture gossip via smutty magazines at the L&D Nurses station) Mr. Gardner packed up the boys and headed to church, with the promise of an Easter Egg Hunt after the service.

He also took the camera, bless him.

His only comment was, "There wasn't much time to get pictures...and the aperture was set funny so they're overexposed."

Love him. And I think they turned out great. I also love how Eli is watching and learning what it's all about...

And then he does it himself...

So proud! Wish I had been there. I think I'll ask for next Easter off....

Not sure why Josiah has this look on his face...bad egg, perhaps?